Verdict: This is correct, but not the full story. The conditions which have led to this are rooted in the government's introduction of a controversial local currency pegged to the United States dollar.

There have been widespread protests in Zimbabwe's largest cities following an increase in the price of fuel.

Prices have more than doubled, making petrol and diesel the most expensive in the world.

So why has the government done this?

Most expensive fuel in the world

The government says the price hikes were put in place to avert fuel shortages and to crack down on the illegal trading of fuel.

The benefit of this arrangement was that it enabled the government to print and spend money again to support much-needed development and infrastructure.

This was also the problem. Successive governments have spent beyond their means, printing money to do so, leading to inflation and a falling currency value.

Dumisani Sibanda, an independent Zimbabwean economist, says this particularly increased after the military takeover in November 2017.

Local currency, which is officially pegged to the same rate as the US dollar, in practical terms is worth far less and its value is falling.

So hard currency becomes increasingly attractive, and those who have it will tend to hold onto it because it maintains its value, while the local currency depreciates.

"Bad money drives out good. If you have a fixed exchange rate for one-to-one, if one of the monies is bad, it drives up the good," says Steve Hanke, Professor of Applied Economics at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who specialises in hyperinflation.

How does this all affect the price of fuel?

The government's attempt to maintain the value of the local currency in parity with the US dollar has led to widespread incentives to buy and trade in fuel on the black market.

Severe fuel shortages have been the result. And the lack of hard currency, due in part to hoarding, has constrained the government's ability to import enough fuel to meet demand.

The decision to dramatically increase the price of fuel is designed to choke off demand and curtail black market dealings.

But the result has been widespread protest and demands for the decision to be reversed.

And across the country, businesses - already struggling to survive in desperate economic times - are facing a huge increase in their operating costs.